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Thursday, July 28, 2016

My little sister knew I was a crime thriller geek when I first started reading as a hobby. So, she gave me a task to see whether I'm able to find out who the psycho is in this book. I took up her challenge and read it without hesitation.The book introduced us to our victim and was immediately being held captive is less than 5 chapters. So, this is where we are being introduced to our investigator and the plot starts to flow. I'm quite fond of the writing because this book is written from different point of views (POV). Hence, it makes it very interesting in reading how different opinions solves this crime.

Without a doubt, I knew who the kidnapper was before half of the book. Now I was dreading to know how the ending is going to happen because there were other cases involved while the rest of the world is trying to solve this one. Trust me, this book is written with a slight graphic violence and gore. Very well executed with every little bit details that might cause you your appetite.

What caught me off guard was the ending twist. It was so well thought off with subtlety. I applaud the author for doing so. In a way, my sister has got me all interested in reading Crime Thriller again. I personally love Crime and Political thriller and I might want to get started with Archer's "Clifton Chronicles" soon.Ratings: 4 out of 5 stars.Goodreads Review Link

Monday, July 11, 2016

I was being introduced to this book when I got my very first Kindle as a gift from my cousin and cousin in-law in Singapore. They were nice enough to ask me whether I'm open in reading books from other religions. Of course I'm open! Moreover, this book is about the history of Islam. Here's a little background about my whereabouts, I'm born and breed in a Muslim country all my life and I would really give anything to further understand the context of the history of Islam.

I do not despise the religion because most religion preaches good teachings and it's worth the time to get hold of these knowledge. Moreover, it's the epic story of the Shia & Sunni split. And it was after reading this, I came to realized that my country is practicing the Sunni Islam so this book might come a little of a bias toward the Shia's practice.

It all started with the ever famous Prophet Muhammad. It is set during his last days before his death, while every one is anticipating who is the next Khalif to be. Now, here's where all the controversies and political misunderstanding started. There were many versions of how this story is being conveyed. One might say that the Shia or Sunni is the true Islam Doctrine and one might argued that they are not.

Lesley is smart enough to bring us back to yesteryear on how it all got started. It was dramatically portrayed with opinions with basic facts from the Quran. There were certain parts where it might be a little gory during wars and political schemes. Well, even the Old Testament from the Bible has it's fair share of violence too. So, embrace it with an open mind.

Lesley points out some good arguments where one is truly faithful with the teachings of Islam and the other is greedy with power, favor and of course money. This is where many is able to define that Lesley is bias towards the Shia group and it looks really bad on the Sunni ones. In my opinion, vast majority are of the Sunni Muslim and this book is not in favor of how they came about and it might trigger many unsatisfied people among the group which causes disunity among the Shia-Sunni where it has already started since the 7th century til today.Overall, I love how this book is able to open many of my understanding in the Islam context. In which it has started my curiosity even more and would really love to give myself chance to read more on the life of Prophet Muhammad.Ratings: 4 out of 5 starsGoodreads Review Link